The Loathsome Deep

Baru set out toward the large shipwreck to the party's left.  Drovic headed a little toward the north from there.  All the wrecked ships were shattered and broken in pieces.  Suddenly a school of small fish swam out toward Baru.  He hefted his sword but relaxed as the school was harmless and ignored him.  Baru heard Sylus call out again for Aylor, It seemed closer now but it was hard to tell.
As Baru tried to collect the party around him a group of six barracuda emerged from the dark waters and attacked the party as previously.  A short battle ensued but the barracuda were no match for the heroes, who were intent on finding Sylus.The party moved further to the north(?) and stumbled upon Wayfarer.  It sat on the sea bottom, looking like it was ready to sail on the next strong breeze.  Ahead Sylus stood at the wheel in the aft section of the ship.  The part reached the deck without incident.  Except for a few cracks in the planking, the deck looked solid and sound.  It was the bodies that looked disturbing.  The crew of Wayfarer littered the deck, 12 men broken and discarded like flotsam on a wave.  Their faces held expressions of pain and fear.  Each man seemed to have died near his station, hand locked in rigging or grasped tight to the side rail. 
Sylus stood at the great wheel, steering the ship through a course and storm that only he appeared to see.  He shouted orders to dead crew members, cursed the nonexistent wind and rain, called out warnings about rising chunks of jagged rock, and continued to yell "Aylor, where are you lad?"
As Seglun moved toward Sylus she was a thick chain bound Sylus to the wheel.  The chain had a supernatural look to it, for it glowed with and evil light and she could see through it.  The chain connected to a similar collar around Sylus's neck. 
Seglun swung her blade to try and cleave the chain but the blade merely bounced off the glowing, clear metal.  Varrid moved up to see if there was a lock of some sort that could be picked or opened.  Drovic moved toward Sylus, talking with a soothing voice trying to snap him out of his nightmare.  Sylus ignored all the commotion around him and continued to experience the wreck of the Wayfarer.  As Baru climbed onto the deck he heard the planks creak.  Looking forward he saw the crew members rising and shuffling slowly toward the heroes -- though they still looked as dead as they did before!
Arvien cast a web across the main deck of the ship, effectively blocking the stairs up to the aft deck.  Some of the sea zombies made their way up to the rear deck slowly attacking the heroes.  A few members of the party surrounded the Captain while other made to block the stair leading up or flank the slowly shuffling zombies.  The zombies did not put up a significant defense but there were several of them.  In the midst of the battle Varrid heard a different voice behind her, "You killed me, father.  You failed me and the crew."  Looking around she saw a zombie Aylor speaking to Sylus.
"You're a sorry excuse for a captain, and your incompetence cost us all our lives.  Look what happened to your beloved ship.  Look what happened to me!"
Sylus wailed in sorrow and fear at the word reaching his mind.  Baru immediately turned on the creature, Aylor's body was still laying on the ship's deck.  Ralom rallied the troops and the battle continued to rage.  As Baru landed a harsh blow to the Aylor zombie a sudden shift occurred.  The creature morphed into a vaguely humanoid winged creature, with four arms and a long tail.  Its form was sleek and fluid, with no clearly defined features.  The Wayfarer disappeared,  leaving only the sea floor and the wrecks of unnamed ships, along with Sylus who's now chained to the sea floor and weeping for the men he lost.
"This dreamer is mine!" the creature screams in a horrible voice.  "This is no concern of yours.  Depart and I won't enter your nightmares next."  The party ignored the warnings of the horrendous monster in their midst and redoubled their attacks.  Slowly as the monstrosity is injured, several of the zombies morph into creatures of blank humanoids with gangly limbs with dark flesh that are malleable.  These monsters start to slip away from the battle into the dark waters.
As the large winged creature fell, the party saw the chain binding Sylus begin to break apart.  An image shimmered into view in front of the sea captain.  It was Aylor.  "It wasn't your fault, father," Aylor said with love and respect in his voice.  "You saved the ship and the rest of the crew.  You got them back home safely.  Grieve for me, father, and remember me.  But don't blame yourself for something over which you had not control."
Father and son hugged as the chain finally fell away and the winged creature died.  There appeared a blazing comforting light, and everyone traveled back toward wakefulness with glad hearts and a sense of profound accomplishment.
The heroes awoke in the therapy room.  Sylus had also awakened, and he looked much better than he did earlier.  "Thank you, Gregorian," Sylus said.  "And thank you, too, my new friends."  Dr. Illhousen, clearly pleased with the outcome serenely led the whole group back up to the second floor.  The storm had ended, birds could be heard singing in the nearby trees.  Illhousen took Sylus to an empty apartment across from his office to rest, then led the heroes back into his office.
"You did well, my friends," Illhousen said as he motioned for them to sit.  "If you still want to help destroy the ghost of Mandalain, I would be willing to accept your assistance."
Varrid immediately agreed to help, seconded by Baru.  The rest of the party was a little less enthusiastic but agreed that the Doctor was in need of help and if it would get rid of their curse, all the better.
"Great!" replied Illhousen.  "To destroy this creature which I call a night terror, you need to recover an item called the rose of midnight.  The rose is a special flower that blooms in the middle of the night in only one location -- a lot in the Ghettos of the Nightmare Lands.  Please, save your questions.  Right now you should get some rest, wash up, and have something to eat.  We'll talk more about this tomorrow."

DM's Notes: The party earned 1,371 XP for the night(mare)s work and now have 65,497 XP.  They require 11,503 to reach 8th level.